| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Failure to Display Public Notice on Planning Application | |
| Posted by: | Steven Pawlyk | |
| Date/Time: | 20/09/21 12:21:00 |
| Anthony, Raymond I *get* everything you say - both of you - and everyone else on this thread. Of course I do. Absolutely. People are very despondent. Truth be told - So am I. But - perhaps because I'm a touch new to all this - let me at least try to take a more positive view. On a positive note - to implement something like this would mean: I suspect a system like this would be a UK first - and, IF it all worked properly - a massive feather in the cap of Ealing Council. "Hey look at us, we're inclusive, we're democratic, we're leading the pack" - plus its a Labour council ie the voice of the people etc. Let them do good! Why they'd be on the news. Even the Council leaders - the ones who were responsible for SUCCESSFULLY implementing such a scheme - they'd get exposure, they would probably advance in their political careers. It could be a massive Win-Win - for everybody. And before you know it - IF it was implemented properly, carefully - that is to say it worked, was fit for purpose easy to run - why before long the whole country would get into it. No Question. I suspect the Council would need to do a small pilot scheme first - for say 3/6 months, for a small area - iron out any teething problems before going live. It does need a proper thinking through. Regarding the availability of email - I suspect even those who don't have broadband - they have mobiles? So this not likely to be a huge number. Regarding people who really do not have email - then they are registered as such on the Council database - and they get paper. I believe the reason they scrapped the old letter system a few years back - was to save money? (Incredible as it sounds .. ) Well I doubt that more than 20% of local residents really don't have email access so that would be a large saving to start with. I believe people would FEEL GOOD to be included in this small way - they would FEEL GOOD about the Council !! Imagine that! Let the yellow notice scheme continue as a backup - its not much good but its probably very very cheap to run anyways. Obviously the whole thing needs to be thought through carefully - system analyst gets involved, talks to all the people involved, makes sure all the bases are covered at the design stage. I worked in IT - this stuff is bread & butter - it ain't rocket science. Some of my old work colleagues - private sector types - highly competent, hard working, smart sharp motivated people - I reckon they could whip up something like this pretty quick. Or - as you say: > Sole traders have better more inclusive sites and they manage those on a shoestring. That's right - means there is a lot of expertise out there in the market on this kind of thing. Its already there. Just need to find the right outfit to implement it. Now - on a negative or shall we say "coercive" or "gently or not so gently leading the horse to water" note - If the Council doesn't improve their system in respect of planning (one specific area) & communicating with their residents - then somebody, somewhere needs to take them to court & force them to do it. The system is not fit for purpose - the system doesn't work properly - the System is broken. They're not fixing it - they're not going to fix it - they can't be asked to fix it. Again - returning to the example of buying a product on the market, even something trivial - well if that product was defective and this defect had consequences, you'd exchange communications with the company on a reasonable level - requesting them to do their duty & fulfil their obligations, you'd act nicely and within reason - most people (though not all) can be reasonable & decent if you give them a chance - but if after a while you saw that the supplier was not going to do anything to fix the problem - that he/she was ignoring your reasonable communications - well you'd threaten them with the solicitors. In my experience that is usually when they sit up & take notice - and get the problem resolved. My argument in this case would be as before - one's house/flat/property - is usually BY FAR the biggest most significant investment people make in their lives. People spend their whole lives paying off the mortgage. Unnecessary stress - unnecessarily caused - by unnecessary procedures - and especially when these can be improved or resolved so easily in this day & age - causes real grief to real people. They can get heart attacks from the stress & worry. Sometimes the people affected are already old & frail, or already under huge pressure due to real life situations be it family, work, dealing with illness or whatever. Given what's out there in terms of technology and given how archaic & ineffective the Council's NON-inclusive UNdemocratic system is currently - well surely there is a case for negligence - or some similar or appropriate legal term or proceeding that fits the scenario. It won't be me who does something like this - I couldn't manage something like that - I'm one of those stressed-out never-enough-time so-much-to-do people. But I think somebody could ... One last thing: Spare a thought for the Council Planning staff - this discussion is specifically about planning. At this time with all this pressure from endless new applications - there is literally a "feeding frenzy" going on out there regarding property & property development - the pressure to "create more housing" - to follow all the new legislation that's coming out all the time (NPPF, London Plan, Ealing docuemnts to name but a few) - to keep everyone happy - to handle all the budget cuts as well and the very real implications of those - I bet they are inundated, overworked. In truth I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to work there - the constant grinding stress, endless - never enough time to focus on one issue - which causes mistakes, then more stress - and the pay is probably not that good either - remember all the government cuts of the last decade as well. They are probably getting it from all sides. So spare a thought .... I think its always better to at least try to get people "on-side" - rather than attack attack criticize slag off => causes resistance. Wasn't it Churchill who said - Jaw-JAw is always better than War-War. Yes it was him - I just looked it up - this is 2021 we have the Internet it is AMAZING So come on Ealing Council !!! COME ON!!! :)) That's my 50 cents for now ... :)) |